route_1065 | In Which Xemnas Has Lunch And Encounters An Old 'Friend'.

In Which Xemnas Has Lunch And Encounters An Old 'Friend'.

Who: Xemnas

memoryborn
Where: Route 34
When: August 15, Midafternoon
Summary: Dubious once-allies cross paths once again!
Rating: G to PG, possible warnings for PUPPETS and REPLICAS

Ilex Forest and Route 34 both had things Xemnas was interested in catching. After a chain of headache-inducing disasters in Ilex, which highlighted that he really needed to teach his two pokemon how to cooperate and work together, it was time to do something else for a little while. He'd find a zorua sooner or later, but hunting a growlithe til then would be something more the speed of his troublesome pair. He had a list of the pokemon he wanted to catch, and his blitzle and deerling, much subdued after the trouble in Ilex, are still in tow. Xemnas did not tolerate failure well.

Finding something to match Xemnas' painfully exacting standards is much harder than just finding any pokemon, as his own team had begun to learn. Just anything simply won't do, and a morning and afternoon spent hunting, chasing and battling various pokemon lurking in Route 34 has yet to find one that Xemnas approved of enough to bother capturing.

But currently, it's time for a break. Both Sorrow and Regret were both visibly tired, and had worked hard to try to do what he asked them to, and a rest seemed appropriate. Settled by one of the small ponds that dot the route, egg carefully nestled against his backpack, it's time ... for lunch. A sandwich for himself, berries and grass and leaves for the blitzle and deerling, and a few magikarp in the water to flick crust at just to see them make Os at the surface trying to eat it. It's remarkably peaceful.

For the moment.

It's also very easy to spot the trio from the air.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was supposed to be a quick trip back to Goldenrod City. Sorry, Illya, I had forgotten to get something back in Goldenrod. I'll be back later and catch up with you soon, okay? was the hasty note she left behind to her traveling partner.

Now that she was soaring through the skies on the back of her Togekiss, Xion felt that might not have been... enough. Illya was going to be mad at her later, but she also had a feeling the anger wouldn't last. A sit-down and a thorough lecture would be up in her alley, though. Good thing time with Lightning sort of made Xion be used to that.

It was by chance that she had to glance down. Green, brown, blue and occasionally white from the reflection of clouds was what she mostly saw as she flew past. It was the speck of black and hint of silver that made her do a double-take.

"Wait... Wait, Bell!" The command came out harsher than intended, but the Togekiss did as she was told as she flapped her wings to stop her path. Xion had her move so that she could see better at what she thought she-- no, her eyes weren't deceiving her.

Xemnas.

First, the shock settled in. Hadn't he wanted to take the ferry to Kanto? Why was he still here? The thought pushed the shock for way of a deep-rooted... anger? Frustration? Confusion won above the rest as she contemplated what to do now that she was actually seeing him. A part of her wanted to fly on by and leave him well alone, but another, larger part of her demanded she see what he was up to.

Before she actually registered what she was doing, Xion had Bell slowly landing herself back to the ground. She was still some way where he probably wouldn't notice her, but she could watch him carefully. As soon as her feet touched the ground did she realize just her luck she chose to use her coat today. For being black, it somehow made the heat of the day bearable, so she had thought--

She gradually made her way toward him. Bell chirped and took flight; being part Psychic made her aware of the swirling emotions that formed in her trainer's thoughts. There was caution, anger, and the rational note that she had stronger Pokemon in the case he decided to try something.

Up close and not elevated by a high seat, Xemnas didn't look as intimidating as Xion thought he'd be, standing on the same ground.

Company isn't something Xemnas is expecting while he's trying to eat his lunch. His senses aren't as sharp as his pokemon's, and when his deerling turns attention skyward and then immediately draws closer, followed quickly by the black and white blitzle, he's well aware SOMETHING is going on. He simply deigns to not notice with anything like alarm. They weren't reacting like there was a threat, just something to be very cautious of.

Any sort of observation says that right now he is up to the obvious: a meal. He even still has his sandwich in hand, something he carefully sets on his knee to make sure it doesn't wind up in the grass, then looks for the thing his already-tired pair of pokemon were watching. He's never seen a togekiss before, and it seems fairly matter-of-fact the way his pokegear is pulled out. Might as well add to the list. Waste not, want not. That the almost-bird-creature has also left behind a dark and fairly familiar outline is ... interesting.

Especially since not long ago someone had chosen to leave him a threatening message. Not this small shape, surely.

Xemnas clearly doesn't recognize her; it could be the distance that makes her hard to pick out, but the outline is wrong for any of his Nobodies. They were, save one, all adults, and she didn't have a male outline. He himself, not exactly intimidating when sitting on the grass with a sandwich on his knee and a bottle of water in one hand. Even his pair of pokemon were a little young to be properly frightening.

After a time of watching - she's too far away to get a really good look at - he raises his free hand and beckons lightly.

She nearly flinches when he raises a hand, but he's only... telling her to come closer? That only makes her more suspicious, but getting a better look of him shows her that he's just eating. Lunch. She's seeing Xemnas eat lunch.

Somewhere out there, Xigbar had a to have a quip for that. Annoying old man.

Her former boss still didn't fail to baffle her, though. Perhaps having an actual heart has been changing his perspective on things. Xion could never really picture him partaking in something so... simple and human like this. It didn't fit with the image he carried while she was in the Organization, but the thought alone reminds her they're both out of that lifestyle now - however much they both still care to wear the coat, though.

Xion finally stops a respectable distance from his spot. Her expression suggests she would be anywhere but here right now, but she's just steeling her nerves and bearing it for now. Bell the Togekiss continues to hover over her protectively while Xion glances at the Blitzle and Deerling. Huh. Guess he just settled with something from the Breeding Centre after all.

They all had to eat, even back at the castle. Xemnas didn't bother to have his meals with the rest, but he did eat, and being able to once more favor some foods over others has been an interesting experience. Which might be why his sandwich has both ham, pineapple and spicy mustard on it; it's an interesting combination. He wasn't sure he liked it, but it was ... interesting. Some things though, haven't changed. As Xion approaches him, he watches much the same way a bug collector might watch a new beetle creep into a specimen jar: intensely curious and endlessly patient. Moving might scare it off.

And that faint, almost omnipresent smile is still there.

"Do not be afraid, child. There is nothing to fear here."

Not from him certainly. He wasn't one to overtly harm things he found useful or interesting, and Xion absolutely was in the latter category. Familiarity still nagged at him. Who was she? He knew her name, but not her. She wore the coat of the Organization, but wasn't among his selected thirteen. She looked rather like ... Sora's young lady friend.

Hm.

"You are Xion, yes? Forgive me if I don't stand, I was not prepared for guests." There's still no real emotional inflection to his otherwise pleasant voice. Maybe having a heart hasn't really changed much at all. His manner of addressing her however isn't one of implied threat - the two small pokemon exchange a brief unreadable glance before very reluctantly returning to their own meals. They're tired, and not really interested in a fight, but they'd tackle even something as big as that togekiss if they had to!

I wasn't prepared for you in the first place, is the first thing that nearly snaps out of her mouth, but she shakes her head. What bothers her more is that he guessed right on who she is, despite their first conversation being audio only. Then again, her past attempts at being discreet from the network haven't been successful.

"This is a free road," she says. Her voice is hollow as her mind is elsewhere. He doesn't have claim to the area, but she is interrupting his meal time, Xion, you know your manners. Realizing that, her nose crinkles and she pushes on,

"I didn't expect you'd still be in Johto," Xion admits. If he'd gone to Kanto, he would have been a comfortable distance away from her and everyone else. On the flip side, she might not have had a chance like this to see what he's really like. Her words were another way of silently asking why he's still around.

Unless this world had many young ladies familiar with, or aligned with the Organization that Xemnas wouldn't instantly recognize, picking out who Xion likely is, is a fairly simple matter. She did have a resemblance to a certain princess of heart, but wasn't that also where Namine was from? True enough that Xion did resemble her as well, but it didn't ... seem quite right. Did Kairi somehow possess two Nobodies?

"You are uneasy," he observes, tone thoughtful. "How interesting."

The sandwich is carefully wrapped back up, it was impolite to eat in front of someone else without sharing, and Xemnas wasn't terribly inclined towards being rude without very good reason. "I have little to share by way of food unless you enjoy berries, but I do have water."

It's a calculated offer, and one he expects she'll refuse, but a water bottle is offered anyway. Everything he does is a measured, calculated thing. "After a recent acquisition I found myself short of the funds required to travel to Kanto," he admits easily.

Which is a bald-faced lie, but she won't know that. There is an unhatched egg sitting nearby, its species ambiguous. It might be a very pricy little thing, or it might have been free. "Come, stay a while. There is much I would like to know of you. My companions will do no harm, and aside from the magikarp there are no wild ones nearby."

His observation wouldn't be said without reason. He's onto her. His words still suggest he hasn't quite pinned down who she is exactly, but could that be a ruse, too? She tries to take a quick breath to calm herself down, but that did little but confirm his observation. Argh.

"I'm fine." True to his prediction, her refusal is immediate. What isn't true is her state of mind. When he states his reasoning, her eyes glance toward the egg and she can sort of believe that-- and nearly blanches at his request. She has someone she needs to return to quick, she reminds herself, but her feet stay rooted to the ground. Her acquiescence is clear with her refusal to move, though.

"What makes me so interesting to you?" Her tone is genuinely curious, but with a hint of caution. Illya finds her interesting, but she never gave the sense that she'd try to dissect what her life was like with questions, and even then, she gave space. Xion can only remember that Xemnas' interests ran along the lines of "could he use it or manipulate it."

"So be it."

Unsurprisingly he seems unbothered by the refusal, simply setting the bottled water back down. As it cost him a pretty bit of munny, that's more savings for him. Earning more was a troublesome thing he dealt with as little as he possibly could. That she seems to want to leave and yet isn't is interesting. If she's here, then likely she too now was human and had a heart. The Organization knew better than to draw anything like ire from Xemnas, but what could she possibly have done to earn it? She seemed to expect something terrible to happen.

Interesting.

He folds his hands on his lap; if he stood she might well spook and run for it. Seated, there would be the illusion that he would be significantly slowed or inconvenienced if he chose to attack. It would be true to say Xemnas couldn't tolerate mysteries, though why that was puzzled even him. was it some lingering effect from when he was an apprentice to a scientist as well as a king? Her question in turn draws a long, measuring stare, weighing the slim young woman against some impossible, unknowable standard.

"You are a mystery," he conceeds finally, with a ghost of a smile. "You know who I am. You know what I am, or was. And yet I know so little of you. You seem familiar, but I do not know you. Isn't that strange? As a side thought.. Tell me, Xion.." Xemnas leans back slightly, expression a bit more neutral. "And be honest. I'll know if you aren't. Did you leave me a message recently?"

Her jaw had been slowly tightening against each other as he spoke to her as if he still held some lordship over her. Then her mouth relaxes at his question, forming a confused expression.

"A 'message'?" She parrots, sounding befuddled. "I don't know what you're talking about. I only talked to you that one time on the Gear."

But now the issue of what "message" he got is raising her curiosity. His words suggests the message might not have been all that cordial. He suspects her of that? Her attitude probably isn't helping her case in that matter, but she really didn't send him a message. She didn't even know he made an inbox to begin with. Nor did she have any inclination to leave weird messages to anyone like that.

"What did it say?"

She was the only possible fluke in his estimation of exactly who was due for being beaten into a bloody ruin as soon as Xemnas could get his hands on the perpetrator, and in a way it is refreshing to know it wasn't Xion. That would put a crimp in things.

Like all the answers he wanted. The ones he was disinclined to delay terribly long. But if nothing else this girl seemed reluctantly cooperative at best, so finding out these answers was going to be difficult. Xion could take some comfort in knowing he talks to everyone the same way. "Good. It is nothing for you to be concerned about, it would have simply gotten in the way of any future pleasant relationships."

There's a moment's pause. "And don't be mistaken. I would prefer a pleasant relationship. You act as if you expect to be punished at any moment, but rest assured whatever you might have done.." There's the barest of shrugs. "If I don't recall it I can hardly hold it against you. I don't have the power to turn you into a Dusk here, and beating little girls has never been something I was fond of. You can relax."

He still has his mind, she thinks, and that's enough of a reason to never fully relax around him. But at least... he admits to not really knowing about her. Did that mean he had no knowledge of the Replica Project, either? It was Vexen's idea and reports that she found in the Organization database, but something like that would have hardly flew past Xemnas' head.

Her feet shuffle awkwardly where she stands, now feeling extremely unsure. She still wonders about the message, but she knows he won't go any further. It'd give him reason to call "fair trade" - if she's trying to pry from him,, he'd be open do the same with her.

"... So you're wondering why I'm like this," Xion guesses from his admittance. He's wondering her caution, why she might expect hostility - possibly what he did to her to earn all those feelings.

There were countless reasons why she might be worried or intimidated or hostile or simply want to kill him - many of which could be due to Sora, who admitted to knowing the girl. But Xemnas didn't have to reveal that part. "Yes, among other things. If you are one of mine, then I have ... hm, no. You would not understand I think."

Xemnas makes a small gesture. "You may call it curiosity if you like. There are very few who wear that coat without my knowing and approval. But I can't dismiss the possibility of things such as time travel or even alternate realities. Not knowing is a terrible thing even to a Nobody."

She knows the meaning behind the concept of time travel and alternate realities, but it surprises her that he mentions them.

"What would those have to do with anything?" Xion asks. She hasn't seen any time traveling or alternate realities occurring, though Johto's odd logic as to how some people remember certain points of time could be one of those instances. Xemnas is right, though; despite not being a true Nobody, her nature as a Replica of the Keyblade hero makes her irritable at the thought of being kept in the dark. Or being intentionally played with.

"Possibly everything." The response is sober, as he picks up the opened waterbottle and takes a sip, then shifts enough to rotate the egg a little. It wasn't expressly necessary but he'd been told it helps and he had no interest in giving his unhatched pokemon any disadvantages from NOT being careful with the egg. "Presume firstly that alternate realities are possible."

She may regret asking, it sounds like he's settling into a speech. No, not a speech. His tone's wrong for that. "Then presume such realities can overlap in certain places, such as this one. In one reality everything is exactly as you know it, your home dimension, your cherished time. In another, you choose to take a left turn instead of a right, or meet a friend where you once missed them. Everything from that point changes. Choices cascade one after another until a new reality is built."

Xemnas gestures a little when he talks, though he's actively trying to repress it. "In your reality you have many close friends. In that one, one of them betrays you and you learn to trust no one at all. Presume this traitor friend is what arrives, instead of one you know and trust." Golden eyes shift, to study Xion again. "There is only one way you will ever know, and that is when your 'friend' chooses to strike." He folds his hands again, primarily to keep from using them to speak with as well.

"For me, weighing not knowing you, not knowing where you are from or even who you are drawn from, and yet you wear the symbol of my Organization, I must consider that perhaps the reason I don't know you is because you are not from my reality. I do not know if multiple realities are possible. I have no reason to think you are from the future, however. If you were, you would not fear me. I would be dead."

Xemnas smiles faintly. "And there is the distinct possibility that most of what I just said went in one ear and out the other."

Yes. He's very well aware of how much the Organization pays attention when he begins speaking.

Despite what he says, his accusation actually snaps her out of being focused and listening on his "speech." She gives a heated frown at that. Unlike the rest of the Organization, she's pretty sure only herself and Roxas had enough decency to listen when he went on about the Kingdom Hearts moon. She had worked hard for his sordid cause, and yet--

Her gloved hands creak as they curl into tight fists. Then Xion remembers herself and refocuses on what he had just talked about.

"It's a possibility, but you still don't know enough about me to really believe it," Xion replies steadily, and to throw his earlier statement back at him. Her gaze bores into him - much like Sora's, as Namine once noted - for a moment longer as she goes on,

"Who's the 'you' in your speech?"

It's another veiled hint, and Xion couldn't trust him enough to not have that whole spiel be a test against her. Looking back, they betrayed each other in several instances and expectations of each other.

Xemnas makes a brief, negating gesture. "I know enough about you to wonder. Not enough to draw any meaningful conclusions." If he had meaningful conclusions he wouldn't bother with any of this. But something she says, or he says, he can't be quite sure, seems to draw up anger.

Why? He can't quite pin it down.

But he has no issues with meeting her gaze steadily, almost guilelessly - as if he had nothing to hide. Or no reason to bother. It might seem a little strange, or even disconcerting. But surely it too is a carefully chosen act. When she asks her question, he pauses, rethinking what he said; for a moment it seems like he hadn't even thought about it.

"Anyone," he replies after a moment with a careless-seeming shrug. "I hadn't meant anyone in specific. Presumably anyone not a Nobody has friends and trusts built up. Even a few of my own kind did. Thus anyone capable of it could be 'you'. I could have used Regret as an example, I suppose."

He never told her the name of his blitzle, who perks briefly at the mention of her name, but as it becomes apparent he wasn't calling her or needed anything from her, the electric zebra goes back to her own lunch.

Her head bows down at that as she thinks on it more. She wants to argue that Nobodies - like Axel and Roxas - were totally capable of forging bonds. Being best friends. Xemnas probably wouldn't care for that, though.

"It's just a presumption," she says, though whether she speaks that as an answer or is still mulling on the subject is left in the air. Then she lets out a sigh, returning his gaze once more.

"But it wasn't like that. That time was real. My memories aren't fake." Her tone is steady in that belief. She's feeling a bit bolder now after reaffirming the memories of the Clock Tower.

"I was a part of the Organization. Number XIV."

He had allowed for those like Roxas and Axel. 'Even a few of my own kind', he'd said. Some Nobodies could do it. Not all of them. Not even most. Only a delicate, fragile few. Xemnas could acknowledge them without so much as a blink. He knew very well some of them were regaining hearts, with all that came with those hearts. "One must presume in the absence of fact, if one wishes to theorize," is the quiet response, not denying it, unashamed.

The matter of being a fake, or time being real, earns her a look. One of speculation and curiosity. "No. Of course not. What is experienced is real." Why would her memories be 'fake'? Why would time likewise not be real?

Simulations weren't real, if run inside a computer. He knew that sort of a thing was possible. Countless possibilities are left to run their course in his mind, as she announces herself as the Fourteenth. Xemnas' expression and bearing gives away none of those thoughts, as things are weighed and dismissed or put aside as a genuine idea until he remembers where he'd heard of someone else declaring something fake.

Certain reports.

Castle Oblivion.

"You're a replica." It's not a question. The Superior of the Organization was not a stupid man. Foolish, perhaps, as DiZ insisted, but very, very sharp. And yet this not-a-question doesn't seem to change his bearing any. No scorn, no mockery, no derision. If anything it enhances his curiosity, leaning forward a little, resting his elbows on his thighs. "Are you Vexen's? Did he tell you your memories were fake?" If she was a child of Oblivion, then he might not have ever gotten the opportunity to cross paths with her..

She gives no reaction of her own when he correctly deduces what she is. She is a Replica, despite being here for a long while in Johto, no matter the short "break" she took. It's those experiences as a Replica that make her the person she is. As much as she could try and follow the advice to look at herself as a human while in here, that didn't automatically erase what had happened.

Xion is only slightly surprised that his tone or attitude doesn't reflect the way other members of the Organization treated her with. She tries to look back on what Vexen actually ever said to her upon her creation, but she couldn't bring up those memories. She only remembers stiffly and obediently walking behind Saix as they left Castle Oblivion, claiming it would be "the last she'd see" of the place.

"Vexen created me, but I don't remember the things he said to me. I don't remember my first week." A pause as she considers what else to say, and then, "By the time I could properly think for myself, it was reported he died in Castle Oblivion."

"Unfortunate. I should have very much liked to know your starting parameters. Of course now they would be irrelevant, but Vexen was undeniably good at his work. The other replicas I have heard of or encountered looked and acted identical to their template. You are a remarkable variance." Had Vexen learned how to cross various progenitors for one result? The base point seems to be Kairi, but Xion didn't act much like her from what little he knew of the girl.

For a few moments he is quiet, then he shakes his head. Fake. Well. Now that he knew she was a replica, he knew better how to handle her. Finally something he could actually use.

"I can only assume someone has grossly misled you as to what a replica is, by way of their memories or personalities or even their beings and hearts. One may question if their memories are real, if they are the only ones to experience them. But share it with another, and no matter their origins, they certainly are real and do exist. What you are born as only matters as much as you allow it to. If you were chosen to be numbered among my Organization, then I should think there was very little fake about you at all. I have no use for a thing that can't think or act on its own, and you seem capable of both."

At that, she takes a step forward. Is he just saying all that to appeal to her better nature now that he knows what she is? The look on her face, however, looks torn between being frustrated and confused.

"You say that now, but it still was only Organization XIII. There weren't any chairs or titles for me because they were all filled - even if over half of them were gone already." Xion says, nearly on the verge of shouting at certain points. He has to be close to realizing why he had allowed for her to exist in the first place and to continue working with them even after she directly disobeyed them to their faces. He may not remember that, but by now, did she really seem like she'd fit in well with the Organization?

One silver eyebrow rises. "I wouldn't change the name of the World that Never Was even if it became a true living, breathing world either. It's just a name, Xion. If you were worthy of being numbered, then you were worthy of being among my chosen few. My Organization was Organization XIII even when we had only six members. It was Organization XIII when I was the only one left, and twelve chairs stood empty to remind me of my folly."

There's another one of those pauses, before his head tilts, ever so slightly, curiosity getting the better of him again. "Why do you let it trouble you so? I am aware a replica is often unstable and short-lived but surely you were of great value while you remained. As you certainly had a heart as all replicas do, I am certain also you must have forged bonds with at least one of the others. Do you not value yourself so much, that a thing like a title bothers you?"

And yet he still didn't know her. Then again if she was a replica, would memory of her die if she did? There was so little information on it.

"It isn't that!" She retorts, sounding just a bit dismayed. Her hands unconsciously curl and loosen themselves, as if trying to summon something back to her hands on reflex. Then she remembers herself and takes a step back, simmering in silence for a minute.

The title, the chair - it didn't matter in the way he's seeing them. Suppose he is right that they're all what they are, but she remembers that the longer she stays in The World That Never Was, or continued to work with the Organization in general... she just felt so out of place. It's also an accurate description as to the state of her mind, but she tries to regain some bit of composure. Hah. Unstable, indeed.

Speaking of bonds, "Roxas... and Axel. And it wasn't as though I knew I was a Replica at first," she grounds out. "Saix made it clear I was a failure first, but never said 'what.' You and the other members said Roxas and I were 'special,' and I don't think Roxas ever got the meaning behind why you guys said that beyond us being able to--"

She abruptly stops at that, but she doesn't look as though she just caught herself. Her brow is furrowed and gaze still on Xemnas, watching him.

"You too could wield a keyblade?" That's interesting. "I assume you inherited Kairi's blade, then." She seemed to be the princess's copy, it would fit. "I can see why you would be called special. Another such individual would be an incredible boon. If you were working well with Roxas, then all the better. That ... 'specialness', yes, you both shared it, but for different reasons, given what you were and what he was. And not only for the keyblade."

Saix calling such a replica a failure though, was strange. She seemed healthy enough, focused enough. Capable. Saix was often a good judge of character, but Xemnas knew he had a temper beneath that stoic calm. Xemnas had a hook, it was just a matter of seeing if she'd bite on it.

Fiddling with his pack very clearly is a thing to keep his hands busy. It is difficult to properly gesture while sitting, and it would look silly besides. "As for Saix, there is something you must understand. To some Nobodies, a replica is a mockery of the state of a Nobody. Neither truly 'exist' to some perspectives. They aren't 'real', and thus anything can be done to them, even killed, and it wouldn't matter. They don't 'exist'. But a replica has one over any Nobody - replicas still have a heart. It may not be a natural one but it is a heart."

"This can incite terrible things in a Nobody capable of even a little emotion, if they didn't consider that replica a friend. I imagine Saix saw you as undeserving. Perhaps he even hated you. You had something he did not. And if Axel was involved as well.. .. hm, perhaps two things he didn't. Did you know before they fell to the Heartless, Saix and Axel were very close?" Xemnas shakes his head. "At any rate. Do not put much weight on his actions. Look to the others, with less of an ..investment. Did they treat you differently, when they knew?"

She isn't sure whether to correct him or not on the assumption that the Keyblade she wielded was Kairi's. At the time, she didn't even know about her, and even then, this is the first time she's heard about the Princess of Heart being able to do so. Considering how strong of heart she was, even from Sora's eyes, she could see it.

She has her open to try and correct it, but Xion blinks in surprise at that bit about her best friend and Saix. Her mind immediately wants to jump on that topic, but he's already moving the subject before she could try. She eyes him warily as he's sifting through his pack, but then she glances at the two Pokemon already out, plus the egg. Those must be the only Pokemon he has, as he's still fairly new. And she does have Bell...

"I'm not sure if they ever found out. Xigbar - I think he knew from the start," she answers. 'Poppet,' he liked to call her. And then there was that one moment in the tea garden-- "He said I kept looking at him like he just 'drowned my goldfish.'"

She pointedly told him to shut up, and while she didn't give his words much thought as she had run out of time, now... Now she wonders who had he seen?

Only two. And one unhatched. Xemnas held his standards far too high, and had already passed up many pokemon that would have made loyal, strong team members. These two suited him well enough and when the third hatched.. that was all he needed.

The chance of those two taking on her togekiss were slim to none. They were tough for their size, but weren't that experienced. Eventually, he pulls out what looks suspiciously like a notebook, opens it up, and begins jotting down notes in shorthand. She might think it pertains to her ... it doesn't, but it doesn't hurt to let her think otherwise. "Xigbar is aware of a great many things. I doubt he treated you badly for it. He's harmless unless given a reason to be otherwise." For the most part.

Xigbar was far too laid back to just harass someone for no reason. "--you had a goldfish?" How do you drown a goldfish? "Was this an angry look or more of a sad sort of look, do you know? Forgive me, but I am trying and failing to imagine the look he meant."

When he asks her all those questions, she gives a shake of her head and looking very confused herself.

"I didn't have a goldfish. He said he saw someone else's face on mine, and the way I looked at him... He didn't make sense."

And by now, the sheer memory of that moment is making her expression look exactly as it did when Xigbar provoked her. Not that she realizes it as she tries to recall it, and finally answers:

"I think an angry look." And now she's glancing at that notebook, wondering what he's writing down. Is he recording what he's finding out from this conversation? Add to that, she's been staying a lot longer than she had intended; Illya's still waiting...

Poor Xion. It's all the worst sort of lie, the most terrible form of deception. A lie with just enough truth mixed in to seem believable, or a truth not fully told, can be spun any way one might wish. Xemnas was learning again what the brighter emotions felt like.. and thus how to better fake them. It made this much easier than it might have been only a short time ago. And she, friend of Sora and thus likely of Riku, if she believed things weren't as she thought they were back then, or even doubted the man had been as evil as he truly was.. then it would be a different sort of victory.

A far more important one. All it had to be, was believable. As if all it took was a different point of view. "You do have a certain resemblance to someone else," Xemnas allows, glancing up from his note-jotting. That look rather reminded him of Sora, actually, but he doesn't say so. As he notes she's watching him, he pauses. Did she know how to read shorthand? Ansem had drilled it into all of them.

"I want to be clear, Xion." All traces of anything like humor or good mood leech from his voice, as if this were completely, deadly serious. "I have no wish to be an enemy. I do not remember you, or the things that happened to make you act so towards me, but if it is so that you were the Fourteenth, and one of my Organization, then I have a responsibility to you even now. As I did then. It will be difficult for both of us if we treat each other as if we were foes. Not so long ago it was the obligation of cold logic. And now.."

And so the deception continues. How gullible was she? Sora could be incredibly so, with the right words. "And now it seems I may owe you a debt, reparations for whatever you suffered by the hands of those who could not feel regret or sorrow or shame for their actions. You, a true child of the Organization more than any Nobody could be."

"What?"

Is her initial and automatic response, shock washing over her face. She hadn't expected those words, nor the tone that is used to say them. Did he mean it? Did he really mean what he's saying? Perhaps all this is possible because he really has a heart to give sway to his thoughts. Emotions he could only remember are actually feeling real to him.

It had taken her a long while to slowly accept herself as something more than a Replica, and even then... The shock slowly gives way as suspicion creeps in. She still has questions and he may not remember what he did with her and Roxas, but she does. He even states that what she remembers is real. When she reminds herself this, she gives a firm shake of her head. Suddenly having a heart didn't automatically give him a pardon for the things he's done.

Still.

"No. I'm not. You could say that, but I'm not. I left it, and even if I still wear the coat, I don't wear it to represent your Organization," Xion says slowly and just as clearly as he did.

"I don't want to be enemies either-" And not in the sense that she wanted to be friends with him, "-and I'm not sure where I want to be with you... but I still remember. It's going to be a while before I think otherwise."

Just to be clear. She continues, "The only thing I want out of you is to not cause trouble. For anyone, and especially my friends. If you keep it up..."

Maybe I can believe, but she won't make it a promise. She waits for his answer with a steady gaze.

It is intensely relieving that he hadn't pegged her wrong, and the offer is rejected. Smarter than Sora but just as dense in other ways; didn't even baby birds know a snake when they saw it? Still, he wouldn't have to follow through with even trying to long-term act like 'a decent person', which pleased him. The chances of her accepting were abysmally small and thus good for him. To be stuck with such an odious task simply to convince a replica of his sincerity..

"..Ahh. That's how you see it. Rejection of everything you don't like, and only trying to keep the bits you did like. It's okay to cling to your memories of your friends, but anything you didn't enjoy is to be thrown aside as worthless. And yet without all of it, both joy and sadness, you would not be who you are today. Xion, responsibility simply doesn't go away if you wish hard enough. Children often like to think so, to shirk their duties. It's not as easy for those of us who are a little more grown up. And whether or not you like it or approve of it.. when those who know the Organization see that coat, they will think of us. Even your friends will think of the Organization before they think 'Xion', even if only for a moment, whether or not they wish to admit it. Thus whether or not you wish to, you still represent us in this world. Surely there are other things you can wear, if you hate and despise us so much."

His tone is the careful sort one might use when speaking to a particularly slow child. "As for 'causing trouble', have I caused any yet, directly? Or has any turmoil I've been involved in been the result of others going out of their way to attempt to threaten me, or intimidate me? It's a foolish idea, 'fear' is not an emotion that has seen fit to return, and yet they keep trying to stir it up. I have done nothing, but if such foolishness continues I will make certain it ceases." His smile is brief and humorless. "Whether or not they're your friends. Common sense seems painfully lacking in the lot you've decided to align yourself with. They should be careful that in all their bumbling and strutting around that they don't wake the dragon. It won't be the dragon's fault if they get burned."

Not just the recent incident. Even Sora had been foolish enough to go out of his way to taunt and hassle, as if there could and would be no repercussions. "If you wish for me to not 'cause' trouble, see to it that your silly friends cease attempting to provoke me. I am not a tolerant man, and not given to offering second chances without better reason than the agitation of a child. I owe Vexen much, as he was more than a mere researcher to me and mine, and perhaps I owe his daughter as well, but that extends only so far. I have done nothing."

"It would be wise for you and your friends to not give me reason to change that."

"I'll do something about it." Xion said, expression turned into one of resolution and somewhat... reluctant resignation.

Did that mean he had given her permission to warn others? In a sense, and-- hmph. "Permission" wasn't the right word either, but still. He hasn't forgotten the message he got, and whatever it said was making him on edge. She could see what he was trying to say, and while she would agree with the caution and wariness her comrades were showing, they were expressing it in, well... dumb ways. Flaunt all they wanted about having more powerful Pokemon - she knew Xemnas would just bide his time and pay the debt if things kept piling up.

And really, the only reason she hadn't thrown the coat away was for sentimental reasons. Plus, it was a practical piece of clothing when the weather grew a bit bad. She wouldn't tell that, though.

"A... truce, then?" At least Vexen left her with some vocabulary.

"Of a sort." A truce? Hardly. Breathing room, to construct a method to properly retaliate, or find ways to catch them without their protective monsters? Absolutely. Habits didn't die easy, and Xemnas was certain they'd be incapable of leaving him to his own devices for long, like bluejays harassing hawks. "Perhaps a nonaggression pact would be better suited given our situation."

Which is a strange thing for a man of his station to be offering a mere child, but it suited Xemnas's purposes and she didn't seem disinclined to agree, so it was acceptable. "I should like to enjoy what little time I have with a heart to call my own. Mucking that up with pointless battles seems foolish, wouldn't you say?"

For now. Until it wasn't anymore. It wouldn't be, in the case of the one sending him messages recently. That had stirred up annoyance and anger, emotions he hadn't truly felt in a long time. It had been ... almost pleasant, to feel the rush of hostility.

"I would still like to understand you better, if you would allow it." The addition is almost an afterthought. "Of course, I understand very well why you might choose to refuse. You represent so much."

She frowned when he said "of a sort." That wasn't good enough? When he explained a more appropriate term, her expression lessened. She wouldn't say she'd agree with his point about trying to enjoy his time with a heart, though. Her silence was probably answer enough.

"Understand me? What else is there to understand?" That genuinely had her confused. She thought he got enough from just her stating she was a Replica and one of Vexen's own. Granted, she didn't talk about how she was trying to be a complete copy of Sora and his abilities.

All of this was temporary, a fleeting thing. He would be called to his duty sooner or later, and this rogue fledgling heart removed and replaced with the proper one. Until then it was nice to know what he felt was his own feelings. Not a lot of feeling, not yet. But it's something.

"Who you are is not defined by what you are, Xion. There are still mysteries to solve." Such as why Xemnas didn't remember her. He wanted those gaps filled.

And he wanted to know how successful a replica she was to begin with. Had Vexen refined the program? Was it actually viable for what they'd wanted it for?

Her expression became thoughtful at that. He wanted to get to know her as a person? Was that what she was getting from him? Or that it must be he didn't remember her at all?

Then she remembered the Riku Replica she had a small chat with a while back. Before she had to go, she asked,

"Were there others?"

Did he remember those?

He pauses, glancing briefly at his pokemon, who are listening intently still. How much did they understand of what they heard?

"Replicas? ... Yes. Several that I know of. Vexen saw fit to create duplicates of himself; I suppose he tested the proceedure that way. You are the first replica, aside from the assorted Vexens, that I have encountered."

And alarmingly they were bald. Xemnas hadn't figured out if that was a design change, or merely the result of trying to create a replica of a Nobody. They hadn't known, he hadn't known, and that was the end of that.

"They had not seen fit to bother to claim a life of their own. Too much research to do, I suppose. However you have. It leaves me with many questions." Such as whether or not she was the perfect replica, what they'd worked for, theorized over..

And he'd never bothered to ask the Vexens if they knew anything about other replicas. An oversight, he could see that now. Thirteen vessels might not have to be himself through time or foreign victims. If the replica process had been perfected...

No, Xion represented many things. Many very, very important things.

Pokemon could, apparently, understand human speech perfectly well! After all, they responded to their commands. Bell herself knew a bit more thanks to being a Psychic type.

It surprised Xion to know that Vexen had created Replicas of himself. She remembered reading others, but he hadn't elaborated much on them, and she was more focused finding out where she was coming from. It surprised her to know Riku had a Replica of his own, too. An oversight on her part.

She took a few steps back, vaguely motioning at her Togekiss. Bell chirped and lowered herself to the ground beside Xion, waiting. She wanted to ask more questions, she wanted to know more. Yet if he couldn't remember her, what else could he tell her more than she already knew?

"I have to go," though she sounded like she wanted to stay a bit longer. Just a bit to gain... something she didn't know at the moment. "I'll... I guess we'll talk again?"

She wasn't sure she was looking forward to that again, even if she was using this to check on him from time to time.

They were smart enough, at least. But this matter of replicas might be too out of the average pokemon's experience. He wouldn't be able to answer their questions, not until he found a psychic-type he actually approved of.

Which could take some time.

As the togekiss settles nearby for Xion to ride, and her tone sounds almost... reluctant, it's a struggle to not smile. Instead he keeps his features easily neutral. "I am sure your friends are waiting for you."

But which ones? And would they in turn show up soon? "If you wish to find me, then I will be found. Goodbye, Xion."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In Which Xemnas Has Lunch And Encounters An Old 'Friend'.

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